The Unseen Impact of Small Acts of Obedience -By Ivy

My family and I are missionaries. When I was younger, I had a picture of what I thought that looked like: living in the middle of no-where, sharing the gospel with those who had never heard it before, maybe the threat of angry tribes over our head. Then, we moved overseas ourselves. That previous picture was shattered by big city life and the trials of language learning. Sometimes, I wondered whether we were truly doing anything. Were we really missionaries?

I used to think that sharing the gospel is always like the biographies describe it, electric with the battle between light and darkness. In some cases, this is true. But it is not always the experience, and I would almost go as far as to say that it isn’t even the normal experience. Sometimes, being a witness and making a difference is about the little, unnoticeable, things.  

On one of our home assignments, I made friends with the girl who lived next to us. Although she came from a Christian family, society’s lies had wheedled their way into her life, destroying any faith she had. Over the time I was there, I loved her, prayed for her, and wept for her. But she was not saved. When we returned overseas, she cut off contact with us. I still don’t know where she is.

By human standards, it seems nothing happened—that the time I spent with her was wasted. After all, as far as I know, she isn’t saved. Yet even though I may not have seen the results of my friendship with her, they are still there. God’s timeline is often far different than ours. 

Before my father was married, he worked as a missionary and English teacher, and became friends with one of his students. However, that student never expressed interest in the gospel. Then my father and mother met, and eventually moved back to our home country for my birth. My father and the student lost contact. Almost a decade later, we returned to the country and my father re-connected with the same student. Still, the student had no interest in the gospel. It seemed that again, my father’s friendship wasn’t doing anything.

Later on, this student began to face some personal struggles. My father was able to share a Christian book with him. After so many years, this student expressed an interest in the gospel. Now he is a believer and attends a bible study with my father and another friend.

Throughout those years before this student came to faith, it must have looked like nothing was happening. Yet the student did come to faith—just not according to the timeline that anyone expected. It was God’s work through the small things that finally brought about his salvation.

These aren’t two random stories. In both, it seemed like the effort was going to waste. Yet as the second story shows, it isn’t. Even though we might not see the results right now—even though we might neversee the results—it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Part of being a witness for Christ means doing hard things to bring God glory even when we don’t know how it’s helping anyone, but still trusting that it is.

Ivi Hope was born in the cold wet of northern England and is now living among chickens and water-buffalo in South-East Asia. More importantly, she’s a Christian, and slowly learning how amazing grace really is (while brainstorming ways to show that through stories). She enjoys climbing trees, rocks, and other things that probably aren’t intended for that purpose, and getting excited over a thought-provoking book—because words are magic, stories have power, and writers can change the world.